That's What Friends are For
by Princess of Miracles
Summary: Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski meet again under stressing circumstances.


"That's What Friends are For"

 **This is a sequel to "The Fox and the Hound" story that I wrote before. Please enjoy and review!**

For some odd reason, Mieczyslawa "Stiles" Stilinski hadn't been able to sleep that night.

It had been a year now since the young werefox had started learning magic and she gained a connection to nature because of it.

At the moment, the wind was whispering to her, telling her to get out of bed and rush off to where she was needed the most.

Unable to quiet the winds, Stiles got out of bed and threw on an old pair of jeans, blue sneakers and a black tank top before opening her window and climbed down from the roof, jumping down onto the grass and ran off.

Orange light covered her body and the girl transformed into a red fox that had gold eyes and two tails, running off through the forest with ease and barely making a sound.

The wind continued to whisper in her ears, leading the fox off in the direction of the important event that was taking place.

When she arrived at the area, Stiles was surprised when she caught the familiar scent of someone she hadn't spoken to in a year since she first met him on the preserve.

His scent was being covered in a horrible smell that reminded her of a decayed bird she had found in her yard one day.

Creeping forward, Stiles found Derek Hale crying as he held the pale form of a teenage girl who was slowly dying in his arms.

Transforming back into a human, Stiles crept forward and called out to the young werewolf.

"Derek?" She called softly.

Head picking up, Derek glanced over to where Stiles was seen as she walked over to them, a worried expression on her face.

"Stiles, what are you doing here?" Derek sniffled.

He hadn't seen the young fox since the day he escorted her off of the Hale property and upset her when they talked about her mother.

"I felt like something bad was happening, so I came out to see what was going on. What happened here?" Stiles asked as she knelt down in front of them.

"A visiting alpha attacked her. He bit her and now her body is rejecting the bite. She's going to die." Derek whimpered.

Whining softly in her throat, Stiles placed her hands on the dark haired girl and saw how her lips were turning blue and her fair skin was turning a pasty white color.

The girl opened her brown eyes and stared at her with a confused expression.

"W-Who are you?" The girl asked softly.

"I'm Stiles, a...friend of Derek's. What's your name?" Stiles asked.

"P-Paige. A-Are y-you a werewolf too?" She stuttered.

"Nope, I'm a fox." Stiles said.

Her hands were beginning to glow green as Stiles muttered a healing incantation under her breath and Derek watched her, surprised that the girl had learned how to use magic since the last time they had seen each other.

"I l-like f-foxes. The Fox a-and the H-Hound was my f-favorite m-movie." Paige smiled weakly.

Stiles smiled at that and continued healing the girl, trying to take the pain away, but it became obvious to her that she wouldn't be able to stop the wolf bite from killing Paige.

Watching as the girl worked on trying to take away his girlfriend's pain, Derek could smell that Paige was going to die and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Staring down at Stiles, it caused Derek to remember something he had read about werefoxes and kitsune.

They had the ability to bite werewolves and counter the wolf gene, transforming them into a fox instead.

If Stiles gave Paige the bite, then it would save her life and transform her into a fox.

"Stiles, I need you to bite Paige." Derek said startling the two girls.

"What?" Stiles demanded.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Paige stuttered as she tried to focus on staying awake.

She was no longer in pain, but her body was demanding sleep, one she knew she would never be able to wake up from ever again.

"Fox bites can counter a wolf bite. I heard that fox bites also have a 100% success rate." Derek informed.

Giving a soft whine, Stiles met the defeated eyes of Paige who had already accepted her fate to die.

The girl didn't want to be a werewolf or a werefox, she wanted to be a human, even if it meant she was going to die.

"Derek, I can't do it. Foxes don't develop the venom in their fangs to turn people until they turn 13. I can't do it." Stiles shook her head.

Derek whimpered in defeat and stared down at his girlfriend, feeling despaired over the fact that he wouldn't be able to save Paige's life.

"It's okay. It's okay." Paige whispered.

She didn't want him to feel like this was his fault that she was dying.

He had tried to save her and that was what mattered.

"I'm so sorry, Paige. This is all my fault." Derek sobbed.

"How is this your fault? You're not the one who did this to her." Stiles stated.

"She's right. This isn't your fault. Don't blame yourself for this ever. I l-love you." Paige gasped out.

"I love you, too." Derek sobbed as he buried his face into her hair, breathing in her scent of vanilla and sandalwood for the last time, trying to commit it to memory.

Shivering, Paige turned her attention onto Stiles who was still siphoning away the pain to make the experience of death easier on her.

"Look after him, okay?" Paige requested.

"Sure." Stiles nodded as she felt tears pooling her eyes.

Satisfied with that answer, Paige closed her eyes and leaned her head against Derek's chest before the bite finally ended her life and her heart stopped beating.

Derek started sobbing loudly as he hid his face into Paige's hair, begging her to come back as his golden eyes turned into an icy blue color that startled Stiles with the way they glowed brightly in the darkness.

Pulling her hands away from the dead body, Stiles simply stared, unsure of what to do or say next.

This was the second time in her life that she had been present when someone died.

First her mother and now Derek's girlfriend.

Why was she being forced to be surrounded by death?

Shaking off her pity party, Stiles turned her attention onto Derek who needed someone to comfort him and she moved so that she was sitting next to the boy, resting her head on his arm.

"Derek, I'm sorry, but there was nothing that could be done. I'm so sorry you have to go through this, but this wasn't your fault. You have to remember that." Stiles told him.

Lifting his head from Paige's hair, Derek turned his gaze over onto Stiles who was staring up at him with a sympathetic expression on her face.

He remembered about her mother's death and knew that she could relate to him better than anyone at that moment because she lost someone she loved dearly as well.

Footsteps were heard crunching on leaves and on the grass as a woman with long dark hair appeared, looking over the teenage werewolf, the pre-teen werefox and the dead human.

"Mom." Derek sniffed.

Talia Hale saw how the werefox was snuggled into her son's side; trying to comfort him and she realized that she would have to take the girl with her back to her home.

(Later on...)

Derek's father and his uncle Peter both buried Paige's body while Talia took her son and Stiles home with her.

The boy wouldn't speak to anyone and Stiles stayed by his side, holding his hand the entire time and had even followed him up to his bedroom, curling up into bed with him.

Talia stood in the kitchen, thinking over how she was going to speak to her son about what happened to Paige and how he had managed to befriend a werefox without anyone in their pack knowing.

Peter then came into the kitchen, wiping the dirt off his hands.

"Everything's taken care of. The body's buried and hopefully no one will find it." Peter said.

"Good. Now we just have to deal with Derek. I never thought he would ever go through something like this." Talia sighed.

"Derek's stronger than he looks. He'll learn to cope and he'll fall in love again. Hopefully with that adorable fox. How on earth did he luck out and become friends with one?" Peter mused.

Turning her attention onto her brother, Talia gave him a warning look.

"Peter, what are you thinking?" She demanded.

"Foxes are powerful creatures. And they have the ability to use magic. If she joined our pack, we could all benefit from it. Even her. She would have a pack to teach her how to fight and protect herself and we would have her magic to protect us from hunters. It's a win-win for all of us." Peter grinned.

Flashing her alpha red eyes at Peter to silence him, Talia moved to stand in front of him.

"We're not going to talk about that now. The only reason that kit is here is because she provides Derek with comfort." Talia told him.

"Just like a pack member would. Or a mate." Peter commented.

"Shut up." Talia groaned as she made her way to the stairs.

"They'd be beautiful. Your future grandchildren. Red furred cubs mixed in a sea of black and grey. Think about it." Peter crooned.

Rolling her eyes at her brother, Talia started walking up the stairs, trying not to think about how beautiful children like that would look.

Making her way to her son's bedroom, Talia was about to open it, but paused when she heard someone singing a lullaby and listened.

Opening the door a creek, Talia peered inside to find Stiles was lying on the bed beside Derek, her two tails covering him and her fingers running through his hair as she sang to him in what sounded like Polish.

"Where did you learn this song?" Derek whispered.

"My mom taught it to me. She used to sing it all of the time when I was upset." Stiles explained.

Nodding at that in understanding, Derek nuzzled into her side.

"I'm sorry for before. I didn't mean to upset you when I asked about your mom." Derek apologized.

"You didn't. I'm just not used to people talking about her. Ever since she died, no one wanted to talk about her at all. It was almost like she didn't exist at all and I hated it." Stiles frowned.

"Will people act that same way with Paige?" Derek wondered.

"Well, if they do, then you can come to me to talk about her. Like how you two met or started dating in the first place." Stiles offered with a small smile.

This caused Derek to smile as Stiles continued to pat his hair and resumed her singing.

Smiling at the sight, Talia closed the door and decided to call Stiles' father to tell him his daughter would be staying the night with them.

Perhaps Peter was right and they could make room for a fox in the pack, especially one that made her son feel comfortable and at ease.

Singing for a little while longer, Stiles checked on Derek and found him sleeping, one of his hands clutching her tail and holding it to his chest like a teddy bear which made her smile serenely at the sight.

Settling down onto the bed, Stiles breathed in the scent of Derek that clung to the sheets and nuzzled into them before she allowed the sound of the werewolf's heart beat lull her to sleep.

She was nervous about being in a house filled with werewolves she didn't know, but she would cross that bridge in the morning after she had a good night's sleep and was sure that Derek would be fine.

The end.


End file.
